Speed Racer: The Movie

Misleadingly titled, this compilation of three original episodes from the 1967 syndicated cartoon with the maddeningly hummable theme song (sing along: "go, Speed Racer"--inexplicably replaced here with a hip-hop version music video) features a bizarre audio commentary from voice talents Peter Fernandez (Speed Racer) and Corinne Orr (Speed's girlfriend Trixie) in which the former natters on about getting parking tickets in real life, while the latter repetitively recalls how much "fun" they all had. For the record, the episodes--"The Car Hater" and the 2-part "The Race Against the Mammoth Car"--are...um...stupid. In "The Car Hater," for example, a man who lost his son in a car accident, rides a horse (whom he whips rather mercilessly) and instructs his goons to sabotage automobiles--placing innocent people at risk--because...well...I don't know. For the Easter Egg obsessed, there's a bonus cartoon starring Colonel Bleep (no relation to Speed Racer) accessible after correctly answering a very easygoing quiz. Of little or no artistic or aesthetic value, this one's for nostalgic fans only. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)